“Talking about my dad’s experience is really emotional,” she said. “Maybe not everyone is going to run and be organ donors, but the lives you touch from talking about it, encouraging them, and teaching them about how important it is, is fulfilling and feels great.”

Waiting

Isabella’s efforts at spreading awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation is part of a wider campaign to highlight the need for donors.

Nationwide, 114,174 people are on waiting lists for organs. On average, more than 20 people across the country die each day as they wait, according to United Network for Organ Sharing. The need continues to be outpaced by organ availability.

Almost 2,200 people in Wisconsin are on waiting lists for transplants, including 1,706 for kidneys and 294 for livers.

A year ago, that number included Mark Pittman.

“It was really hard to watch because he’s someone that is so strong,” said Isabella, who is set to graduate early from Denmark High School this winter. “I remember a couple of times where he’d look at me and say he was ready to die. That’s really hard to hear.”

'Somebody else’s hero'

Mark Pittman’s transplant starts with the onset of health concerns more than three years ago and were eventually tied to Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, an extremely rare genetic disorder causing liver failure.

A potential transplant in November 2017 turned out to be untenable. Mark wondered if he’d see two of his children graduate college and another from high school in 2018 and if he’d live to see Isabella graduate this year.

“It’s such a helpless feeling when you’re on a list, you’re waiting, and the realization you’re waiting for someone else to pass so you can not die,” said Mark’s wife, Nikki. “There’s a lot of emotion in that. There’s that guilt of what am I taking from someone else? But it’s also such a gift, so you remember they made that choice to be somebody else’s hero.”

Another chance at a transplant materialized on Dec. 29, 2017.

“They said, ‘Hey, we think we have a match,’” Mark said. “We immediately jumped in the car and drove to Milwaukee and waited there overnight.”

Just before 2017 ended, Mark Pittman had a new liver.

“I would not have seen my kids graduate and I would not be here today if something had not happened,” he said. “That’s how dire we were.”

Saving a family

It’s taken him a year to recover, and Mark is doing well. The Pittmans have embraced a new normal that includes more focus on family and life.

The family doesn’t know who the liver donor is, or the donor family. Keeping identities confidential is a standard practice. The Pittmans have sent a letter of thanks to the donor family who gave Mark — and the family — a second chance.

Nikki Pittman said seeing her daughter take the family’s story and message public is a way for them to give back for the decision their donor made to help others.

“You don’t realize it’s your friend at school, it’s (Isabella’s) parents, it’s the guy you work with, it’s somebody you meet at the grocery store who is in desperate need of something you could give,” she said. “Our lives are forever changed by this gift from this family who we may never meet.”

A liver donation by a stranger in 2017 helped Mark Pittman and his family from New Denmark.(Photo: Submitted Photo)

Isabella Pittman shares her family’s story where and whenever she can in the hope it will reach people willing to donate organs, including teenagers who can register to be a donor at 15½ years old.

“You’re not saving just one person, you’re saving a family,” she said. “That’s what happened with my dad. I’ve been so grateful for the person who donated, and I want to spread that message.”